This is known as Ermine Frosting, or sometimes referred to as boiled milk frosting, because it begins with a cooked roux of flour and milk. That might sound incredibly strange for a frosting recipe, but trust me! I’d say it’s the perfect frosting. It’s not so thick and sweet that you need a gallon of milk to get it down your throat. It’s mild and smooth, and light as air. I also love it because it doesn’t take away from a good cupcake like other really rich frostings can. It’s often the traditional frosting used with Red Velvet Cake. This frosting has a similar taste and texture to a Swiss Buttercream, but with way less effort. Try this unique frosting recipe and you’ll be hooked!
Instructions
The frosting starts out with a mixture of all purpose flour and milk.
And even though I’m showing it here being whisked together, I’ve actually found you’ll get a much smoother result if you mix this part in a blender first and then pour it in your pan.
Now comes the weird part. You’re going to cook this mixture until it gets thick–it happens fast and you’ll want to have a rubber spatula and constantly smash/stir it to keep it smooth.
I usually take it off the heat when it looks like this photo above. There are still some wet spots but as you stir it all comes together like this:
Don’t taste it. It’s not frosting yet! Pop it in the fridge; it needs to cool completely (I sometimes pop it in the freezer if I want it to cool fast.) Put it in a bowl and smoosh it around and stir every few minutes to cool it off.
While it’s chilling, place some real, high-quality butter (definitely no margarine) and granulated sugar (not powdered sugar!) in a stand mixer.
Whip it up for a few minutes so it’s light and creamy. I use the whisk attachment on my kitchenaid, but any paddle should work. Then you’ll add that glob of flour. I know. Weird!
I’m warning you right now it’s going to look weird at first. Like, what the heck did I do weird. But keep going. You’ve got to whip it for a long time for all the sugar to dissolve and everything to come together. Don’t be startled if it looks curdled and weird. Eventually it will look like fluffy soft clouds of heaven.
I usually give it a little taste and if I can still feel quite a bit of granulated sugar I keep on whipping. Sometimes it takes 5 minutes, other times I let it go for almost 10 or so! It’s worth it for this silky, fluffy, magical mixture.
Pipe it or spread it or fill it or whatever. Anyway you eat it, it’s fantastic.
Helpful Tips
1. Use real butter, and a good name-brand. Cheap butter does weird things.
2. If you beat for the 6-8 minutes and the mixture still looks strange, beat longer and at a higher speed if you can. It should come together, but it takes a little patience!
3. I personally think this frosting is best eaten fresh. You can store for a few hours at room temperature, or try storing in the fridge overnight, letting it come to room temperature on its own, and then re-beating to fluff. If you want to frost cupcakes or a cake the day before, refrigerate and just let come to room temp after.
4. Add extracts to your hearts content; lemon and almond are both wonderful! Food coloring is also okay.
5. The white sugar can be exchanged for brown. Try 1/2 white 1/2 brown for a warm caramel flavor.
6. Do not try to make other substitutions or additions. Sour cream, fruit purees etc. can do disastrous things. Some people have had amazing success, just experiment at your own risk.
7. If trying to decide whether or not to double it- double it. Chances are you’ll want more. It’s a rather small batch, but on purpose.
1 batch will not look like much, but it can spread on (just with a knife, a normal amount) 24 cupcakes. If you want to pipe it thick, definitely double it.
Looking for Chocolate? This isn’t exactly the same, but very similar!
Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup milk whole milk is best, but I've used non-fat when it's all I have and it's actually fine
- 1/2 cup real butter slightly softened (I prefer salted, but you can use also unsalted and add salt to taste)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or other flavor if you wish
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat.
- Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken. Let it cook, while stirring with a rubber spatula, until you can start to see the bottom of the pan. Continue to cook until mixture has the consistency of thick pudding or paste.
- Put mixture in the fridge and let it cool completely; it's fine if it stays in there long enough to get chilly, you just don't want it warm at all. As it's cooling, feel free to stir it occasionally to speed up the process and keep it from forming a crust on top. You can also do this quickly in the freezer, just keep an eye on it so it doesn't freeze.
- Using the whisk attachment on an electric stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two until well combined and fluffy. While beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the flavor extracts. Beat to combine and then scrape down the sides. Mixture will separate and look messy, keep beating! Continue beating until mixture comes together and is light and fluffy, about 7-8 minutes, but time varies. Take a sample of frosting between your fingers; frosting is done when light and fluffy and sugar granules are dissolved.
Related Recipes:
Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes
Chocolate Glazed Cupcakes with Vanilla Creme Filling
Colorburst Cupcakes
Questions & Reviews
I didn't see it mentioned….but does salted vs unsalted butter make a difference here?
Heaven! I just made my daughter's birthday cake last week and used a standard buttercream frosting. It was heavy and rich and I wanted something light and fluffy for her party with some friends.
I made this and it was PERFECT! After a mixup…
I doubled it but did not double the vanilla. I frosted all 24 cupcakes and then realized that it was VERY buttery tasting. So I scraped off the frosting and added some Lemon Extract. The butter taste was still pretty strong after 1 tsp, so I kept adding more till I got a hint of lemon tartness, followed by the buttery sweetness.
I got a bit more practice frosting (YOUR!) rainbow cupcakes and they look great!
So good. I can't wait for tonight! Thanks!
Bernie, I've never tried it before, but I would think it would work. Let us know if you try it!
Instead of using milk can you use heavy whipping cream instead??? Has anyone tried with success?
This icing is so great. So smooth and yummy!
Many people have asked which icing I use and so I refer them to your lovely blog!
Ok I have an update!! I made this frosting yesterday with the substitute of half brown sugar and the addition of a little cinnamon. I was nervous after 10 minutes of whipping that nothing was happening but after an additional 5 of so lo and behold I had frosting! It tasted incredible! It honestly had a chocolate chip cookie dough kind of flavor to me (minus the chips) and was great on my pineapple cupcakes. ALSO, I made a batch of the chocolate which turned out amazingly. I am normally not a huge fan of chocolate frosting for some reason but this is just great. I'm a little baked out right now after 5 dozen cupcakes but I can't wait to actually try the standard version of the frosting! I did have to make 2 batches of the flour/milk mixture because once it starts to thicken it goes really fast and my first one was perfect when I started to remove it from heat but then thickened up to oatmeal almost! But the second one I did was perfect. Thanks for my new go to recipe!!
This stuff was great. I made it to top brownies. Only problem is it didn't seem to like the heat of my hand while piping, because it was pretty separated toward the bottom of the bag there. Butter was Lucerne, and flour/milk mix was perfect. It never did thicken up past the creamy stage, no matter how long or high I beat it for. Tasty, but a bit heavy on the butter I think. I might try adding a little powdered sugar or whipped cream to it. Keeper nonetheless, thanks for sharing.
-Taryn
Danielle- it tastes amazing with brown sugar. I recommend using 1/2 white and 1/2 brown. A dash of cinnamon is delicious too!
I'm so very excited to try out a few variations of this recipe. I'm making 8 dozen cupcakes here next week and I need 5 different frostings. This will be made into 3 for sure! I do have one question regarding the brown sugar. Has anyone actually done it and had it work out well? To me brown sugar is wetter than white sugar so I didn't know if it would affect the process at all. I'm planning on putting it on pineapple cupcakes for a less messy version of the sugary gooey stuff that normally goes on upside down cake. I want to use brown sugar and maybe a dash of cinnamon. Any thoughts?
It took two goes for this one. First time, it curdled and just wouldn't come together. I think the flour batter wasn't chilled enough. The second time, it worked like a dream. I stuck the flour mixture into the freezer to chill for 5 minutes and also made sure my mixing bowl and all equipment was cold. Piping was easy and it held its shape well, like regular buttercream although this is much softer and creamier. The taste? Divine. Not super sweet. Had a melt in your mouth texture and a lovely butter taste. I'm leaving this out over night to see how it holds up. If all is good, I'll be using this to frost over 8 dozen cupcakes this week. Thanks for this recipe.
i was crying it came out really bad
Just made this today and it turned out amazing! If anyone else is a little nervous to make this due to its "tempermental" reputation, give it a shot! I took the flour milk mixture too far (it was really thick) and it still turned out! I love it and will be using it again and again! Thank you OBB for making me the go-to person for all desserts at family functions, they think I am amazing and its all thanks to you! 🙂
Very good! I used half white and half brown plus a bunch of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg to go over pumpkin cupcakes. It was a hit!
This frosting is to die for!!! I am the person who doesn't like frosting, and I was eating this by the spoonfuls! Thank you for a recipe that is not so overpowering with sugar!!!
llene- you should be okay with powdered spices. Just add them in at the very end.
Hi all, I am going to try to make this frosting this weekend with pumpkin cupcakes. I'd like to add some flavoring, like cinnamon and/or powdered ginger. Does anyone know if this will cause me problems?
hmm hmm.. http://lh3.ggpht.com/_8QCEB7qZ160/Rr8L6aCq2uI/AAAAAAAADsI/01cKqyLpPlQ/IMG_5121.JPG was talking about something like this.. cake then icing and then jelly.. so do we use same icing mentioned here?
I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Do you want to fill a cake with jelly? This is just like a normal buttercream icing so you'd use it in the same way.
hey… thnk u for da prompt reply.. its very easy to arrange 🙂 thnk u once again 😀 will try n let u know.. its mah sister's bday this december.. so want to try some..
had one more query.. first you cover cake with this cream.. but thn if i want a layer of jelly to be set on top of it thn.. wht kind of icing is preferred?
hiral- just regular salted butter 🙂
hii..
hv been surfing for different different frost… m new wid baking n cooking.. i hv one extremely silly question..
is it salted yellow butter u use? or white butter? or some unsalted yellow butter?
Andrea–One other thought I had is that you may not be cooking the flour/milk mixture long enough. I've found that the frosting still turns out of the "pudding" mixture is a little overcooked, but it will be like you described (thin and silky) if you undercook it. So maybe try using brand-name butter and then cooking the milk mixture just a little longer. Good luck!!!
Thanks Mary & Sara–my butter wasn't store brand, but I don't know the brand well either–I just moved here and am still getting used to the local selection they have. I will try this frosting one more time with different butter and milk and if it still doesn't work then this recipe has officially conquered me.
Ditto Mary!
Andrea – it might be the type of butter you are using. Some people have noticed problems with non-name brand butter, others haven't. If you are using a store brand butter, I'd switch to Land-O-Lakes or Prairie Farms or whatever is not store brand for you and give that a shot. If you are using name brand butter, what kind of milk? Also, sometimes the humidity or lack of it in my house has affected my baking and cooking. Could that be happening to you? Just a few thoughts. I really hope you get it to work out, b/c it is just so awesome!
Okay, tried it again tonight just cause my candy-corn cupcakes looked so cute. Still no luck. My frosting remains ultra silky smooth–I can't get that whipped lovely texture for the life of me. I haven't got a clue what I'm doing wrong.
I don't know what I did, but my frosting stayed exceedingly silky and goopy although a beat the daylights out of it with a stand mixer. I made sure I didn't undercook it from the beginning–it seemed a little thick right from the beginning but the more I beat it, it seemed the more goopy it got. Needless to say I am devastated. Any thoughts for my next attempt? I so much want pretty cupcakes like yours!
singularly, the BEST frosting I have EVER made. Thank you SO much for blogging about all the things I am interested in! You guys ROCK!
Ok, I know this is an old post but i've been searching for a good not so sickly sweet icing. This was delish, especially with some almond extract! If you still check this, i do have a quick question. One batch makes no where near enough to generously frost 12 cupcakes, am i doing something wrong? I had to make a double batch to frost 12. I love this and would like to keep using it…just wish it made more.
On a side note, i was experimenting with this recipe and even though you said it doesn't mix well with fruit, cream cheese etc. I decided to test my luck anyway. I had made a thickened strawberry puree earlier that i had intended to use as filling. (I pureed some strawberries with sugar and cornstarch and thickened on the stove) I gently folded in 4T of it and it held up just fine and was absolutely amazing! None of it made it on the cupcakes, we ate it all! Maybe it was because i used cornstarch in the fruit mix???
Angie, I don't have experience with fondant- but I do use this for a crumb coat with iced cakes. It firms up in the fridge so it works well for that.